I love college students. I’ve made working with them my life’s work. That said, there’s a few things that can drive me a little crazy about educating college students, particularly when it comes to out of classroom educating.

Sometimes, college students think they have all the answers or know it all once they’ve done one leadership retreat or attended one workshop. Really? You know it all now? Think again.

The same kind of inflated sense of competence and confidence is often articulated by us as student affairs professionals. Go to a conference session on leadership programs and come back and you know it all. Attend the social justice institute and you’re the campus expert on inclusion. Listen to a webinar on assessment and think “I can write the best survey questions ever!”. Think again.

It’s time for student affairs professionals to demonstrate our field’s value of lifelong learning. We hold up the ongoing learning that a student experiences across her/his time as an organization leader, participating in community service, and attending our campus programs and events. We know students do not learn all it takes to demonstrate leadership in one program and we should remember that we cannot become experts in the same manner. Learning something takes time. Incorporating it into our framework as we conduct student affairs practice takes even longer. Becoming an expert? Well, that’s a life’s pursuit.

Considering how context and culture influences how we apply lessons in our work is another factor for consideration. You might know a thing or two about cultural competence in one setting, but is the same level of understanding sufficient in another? Again, as educators we must adopt a commitment to lifelong learning – always improving.

Think about the things on which you may have a high level of competence and confidence: what can you do better? Examining the ACPA/NASPA Professional Competencies is one way to be humbled: do you really know everything at the basic, intermediate and advanced levels? And what are you doing to develop the long list of attributes needed to demonstrate sufficient and advanced skills in each of the competency areas?